Dan Patlansky Talks Introvertigo and Splashy Fen

Splashy Fen festival-goers are in for a treat as Dan Patlansky releases his new album Introvertigo at this festival. His excitement at this release was almost tangible when UNDERGROUND PRESS interviewed him as he promises this one is “my best release to date”.

Photograph: Nanette Grebe

Thank you, Dan, for taking time out for this interview

No problem.

I read an internet review from a dedicated fan who has collected everyone of your releases who claims that your first cd was astonishing and yet you get better all the time – can we expect Introvertigo to be the best yet?

Without a doubt. And I mean that quite sincerely. I think it’s the best release with the best kind of songs I’ve written with the best production ever. For those reasons, Introvertigo,is my best release ever.

Congratulations on your very successful world tour last year.

Ya, it was great man. It was, exhausting but well worth it and a fantastic experience.

You collaborated with some awesome musicians.

Yes, it was fantastic, it really was. I feel blessed with the way it went last year. We just hope that 2016 holds the same cards for us.

I believe you will be releasing Introvertigo at Splashy Fen?

Yes, that will be the first date the album will be available. What is happening is that the official world-wide release is on the 6 May 2016, but because we’re touring the album, with Splashy Fen being the first date, we’re making it available only at live events until the end of April 2016.

With your increasing popularity, are we going to be seeing less of you locally?

Yes and no. I’m not planning on moving overseas anytime soon, I have a family and we’re very happy in South Africa, and I have a very healthy fan base her. I can’t imagine we’ll be touring more than we are currently, with overseas tours of three to four months possibly We’ll probably be playing less because we’ve moved to slightly bigger venues. Instead of doing thirty shows on a tour and playing in five different places in a city, we would rather do one big show at a larger venue in a city.

Are you touring with a regular group of musicians, or do you change them as you go?

It’s the regular drummer and bass player that I’ve been using for the last almost decade now, and for this tour we’ve added a keyboard player, so for the first time, we’re a four-piece on the road.

What is the feeling you get, when after producing a really good piece in the studio, and then taking that piece to a live audience.

It is possibly one of the most rewarding feelings you can get as a musician in my opinion. For me, at-least it is. The studio is one thing, it’s good for preparing the song, and to experiment with different arrangements and different sounds. Eventually, you’ve got to decide on something and then get that song into a rehearsal room and prepare it for the stage. Sometimes the song will remain unchanged and sometimes you’ve got alter the ever so slightly to fit into the live situation a little bit better. And it’s fantastic! You never know when you take the song to a rehearsal room how well it’s going to work live. Often when you have ten songs on an album, you’ll find that seven of them work brilliantly live, and three of them just translate well into a live situation. We’re currently in rehearsals for the Introvertigo tour and it is the first time I have ever had an album with ten songs that work so well live. They all translate so well live which is a really good feeling.

What is it that keeps you so well balanced.

I believe, staying true to what you are passionate about musically, and pursuing your goals passionately without veering off-track just because there might be more money in it. I believe you alter your brand slightly if it means opening yourself to a wider audience. Not in the sense of writing pop songs or going completely commercial necessarily, but just by taking what you do and putting it across in a manner that’s perhaps more palatable to someone who’s not a hard blues rock fan. I think that is the trick. Part of it is also the producer I’ve used for my last two albums, Theo Crous. Even though Theo is not essentially a blues rock producer, working with him has been fantastic – it”s been a creative marriage that works well.

Do you prefer being in the studio or on the stage?

It’s almost like apples and oranges. The core thing in the studio is always the song. You worry about the arrangement of it, the different sounds, the strength of it – the focus remains on the song. When you’re on stage, the songs are already written and arranged and then it becomes all about the performance and feeling the song and how you get it across. It’s a very different experience.

What do you like most and least about touring?

It’s a good question. I think what I like most is getting my music out there and seeing the world and getting paid for it – it’s not like a holiday, but you meet incredible people. The biggest thing is getting the songs out there and playing your music to different audiences. The worst part is to balance family life with on the road life. It’s a very difficult, and at times it feels an impossible task to make it all happen. It’s about compromise. Sometimes comprises have to come from my career and sometimes the family have to compromise. That is probably the part I find the most difficult and like the least. When I am at home, I put in the extra effort with my wife and daughter and make the most of my time with them.

Do you and your wife share the same music interests?

Yes, I think we do, mostly, to a point. Her tastes don’t go as deep into the way-out stuff that mine do but she alsoI like’s a whole bunch of stuff that I’m not really into.

Dan, thank you once again for this interview, it’s been great talking to you.